Zootopia: A Crime Most Foul
by Trick N. Zwei
Summary: Officers Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are investigating of what was thought to be a simple crime at first. They couldn't have anticipated that their nosing around would lead to something much bigger. A crime that reeks of something fouler than its already godawful stench. They had better keep their noses clean if they want to get through this in one piece.


**Disclaimer: Zootopia is property of the Walt Disney Company. This work is purely fanfiction and as such earns me no income. Don't sue me, I'm poor.**

 **I wanted to try my hand on this since I really liked the movie. FYI I'm sticking to Disney values here, just so everybody knows.**

* * *

"So what have you got for us, Chief?"

Judy Hopps sat waiting with her usual enthusiasm for her job. Her partner beside her, on the other hand, was sipping on a cup of coffee with his own usual enthusiasm, which is to say not very much compared to his ever bouncing energy ball of fur of a partner.

Don't get him wrong, though. Nick Wilde actually enjoyed being a cop, policing the streets of Zootopia with his little bunny partner. He just wasn't as… thrilled by the recent cases they've been getting lately. Some petty theft, breaking up a minor dispute between businesses, and even responding to a call of domestic disturbance, which turned out to be Judy's noisy neighbors getting too rowdy for a soccer game. Nothing much that really caught his interest.

At least that was until today.

"I've got a weird one for you today, Hopps," said the Chief, looking up from the case file he read. "It seems a restaurant in the Downtown District had been broken into. There's scant news about it since we only got the call recently. The place is called Odor Perfume, I think?"

"Woah, woah! Time out!" Nick had gotten off his seat at that. "Do you mean to say Odeur Parfumée?"

Chief Bogo raised an eyebrow at Nick's sudden change in behavior but, nevertheless, turned to read the file again.

"Yes," answered the Chief once he made sure. "I'm assuming you know the place if you can pronounce it correctly, then?"

"Know the place?" repetead Nick. "Chef Francois, the owner of that fine establishment, makes the best pastries in all of Zootopia! Frankly, I'm surprised you haven't heard of it."

Chief Bogo was unmoved by this and simply took off his reading glasses, giving Nick his most 'does this look like the face of someone who cares' look.

"Okay, so not a fan…" chuckled Nick nervously.

"What's so good about some fancy stuck-up restaurant?" asked Judy. "Doesn't seem like the kind of place you'd go to."

"Sorry to say I'm not your typical donut loving copper," said the fox with a little sarcasm. "Although, I'll admit that Clawhauser has pretty good taste when it comes to those sugar coated marvels." Judy and Chief Bogo rolled their eyes. "With that exception, I'll have you know that even I had the chance to eat there several times in my life back in my… uh, less _reputable_ days."

"Wait," Judy eyed the fox suspiciously. "This isn't one of those less than legal places you know about, is it? Because if it is, I am definitely going to shut them down."

Nick looked appalled by this.

"Shutting down such a fine establishment would be crime itself against the world," he said. "Their aromaberry desserts are just to die for. Customers there include some of Zootopia's rich and powerful, getting a reservation is almost impossible for regular folk. And besides, Odeur Parfumée doesn't have a single thing out of permit. Chef Francois is not only strict with his menu but the rules as well."

"Uh-huh," Judy still didn't look like she was convinced. "So what's the reason you haven't been back there, then?"

"Well… no reason I can't _now_ ," said Nick. "It's just that the place is also a favorite place of Mr. Big's. And you know we weren't really keen on seeing each other face to face back then."

"Because you sold him a skunk butt rug."

"He what?" asked Chief Bogo incredulously. He looked far more interested in that than the case. "You sold one of Zootopia's most feared criminal boss a… butt rug?"

"A _skunk_ butt rug," clarified Judy. "Used to bury Mr. Big's grandmamma."

"I'm impressed, Wilde," said the Chief, surprising Nick. "That takes a lot of guts to pull off… guts and a whole heap of stupidity." Nick, not so surprised now.

The fox was very, _very_ glad that Judy's actions had managed to thaw his relationship with the arctic shrew. He was finally able to go back and visit a lot of his old haunts again. Although, Mr. Big did make it a point to tell him that his generosity should not be squandered this time around.

"Well, since you're so familiar with the place and its patrons," continued Chief Bogo. "It looks like you two are perfect for the job." He threw the case file to Nick. "Off you two go. I expect excellent results from the both of you, especially you this time, Wilde."

It looked like Nick's sudden enthusiasm had landed him a bit of pressure. He really should have kept his mouth shut. This is why he usually lets Judy do most of the talking with the Chief.

"Oh, and be sure to bring back some of those aromaberry desserts you were just talking about," said the Chief to Nick and Judy as they left the room.

* * *

"Can you believe that?" Nick asked his partner. "It feels like the case was the last thing on his mind."

Both were on their way out the precinct.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it might be because of how much you praised their pastries so much that got to him," answered Judy. "Seriously, you were practically drooling from your mouth just mentioning aromaberry."

Suddenly, falling flat off on the floor right in front of the two, Officer Benjamin Clawhauser struggled up to his feet while blocking their way. The rather chubby cheetah was huffing from his unexpected exertion.

"D-Did you guys just say… aromaberry?" he asked, still a little out of breath.

Nick and Judy were both surprised by his appearance. After all, they were pretty sure they had seen him on his desk when they passed by. They were almost at the doors that lead outside of the precinct. It was hard to imagine Clawhauser moving that fast from his desk to where they were just after mentioning aromaberry.

"Maaaybe…" drawled Nick uneasily. "Why do you ask?"

As quick as a… cheetah, Clawhauser grabs him by his shoulders and lifted him up. Face to face, eye to eye, snout to snout - unnervingly close, Clawhauser tells him, "Get me some…"

"Get you some what?!" Nick gulped.

"You're heading to Odeur Parfumée. You know what."

The usually friendly and warm cheetah seemed quite more assertive today. That was until he broke down on his knees, hugging Nick by the waist and begging.

"Please, Nick!" he said. "You don't know how long I've waited to get a chance of eating one of those! It's been a dream of mine to taste that sweet slice of heaven since I've first smelled it!" His begging began to attract some unwanted attention from the surrounding people. "I'll do anything! Anything!"

"Okay, okay, okay!" quickly agreed Nick. "Get a hold of yourself! If you wait by your desk and do your job well, I'll see if I can snag you some after."

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Clawhauser practically floated back to his desk. The cat pretty much had all his nine lives on cloud 9.

"Okay, seriously? What's so good about some dessert?" said Judy. "I mean, I enjoy the occasional carrot cake as much as the next bunny, but I don't really see what's so special about this aromaberry thing?"

Nick straightened out his uniform, trying to get the wrinkles and donut sprinkles off of it.

"Aromaberries are kind of rare, if you don't know," he answered, as he and Judy continued on to their police car. "I'm surprised you didn't know that, being brought up in a farming town and all."

Judy looked a little miffed at that.

"Of course, I know about it. My parents said it was one of the most expensive fruits to grow. You need some pretty exotic stuff and equipment just to take care of the seeds, not to mention the conditions to grow them. It takes an absurd amount of time and care to produce even a small basket of it, even then they're prone to diseases and any changes to their environment. Bunnyburrow doesn't have that kind of money to invest in something like that."

Nick smiled at his partner.

"So you do know a thing or two about them," he said. "Except you forgot to mention the most important thing about them."

Judy stopped in her steps in front of their car, trying to think of what she might have missed. Her cute little eyebrows furrowed in deep thought of what she could possibly be missing.

"Their smell?" finally answered Nick. "It's why their called aromaberries in the first place. The scent from a single berry can be quite intoxicating, if you didn't know."

"What? Are they like cinnamon toast or something?"

"They are leagues above that, Whiskers," smiled Nick. "Way above and beyond what people consider ordinary. The better your nose is, the better it tastes. Trust me when I tell you that you will never look at a berry the same way again after you've smelled this.

* * *

"You're right. I am never going to forget this smell every time I look at another berry."

Judy had her nose pinched, as she inspected the little white boxes full of berries in front of her. Behind her, Nick looked like he was about to throw up.

"I can't believe someone would do this…" said Nick weakly. "To think there was someone out there capable of doing such a horrid thing… I can't- I can't even look at this right now."

Judy rolled her eyes at him.

"Just tough it out, you little kit," she said. "We've got to go over the crime scene and look for clues."

The two were currently at the back warehouse of the glamorously ritzy Odeur Parfumée where they keep their aromaberries in a large, specially made refrigerator that had some of the most advanced environmental controls in the market.

Just as Nick said, the place was definitely styled to cater the wealthy. Frankly, she was surprised the fox had even managed to get through the front doors here. Which would mean that he probably didn't.

"You don't understand," said Nick. "I really don't think I can physically get close to it right now without throwing up."

One of the officers on the scene came up to them and handed out a gas mask to Judy.

"Sorry, Wilde. We haven't gotten any masks your size yet," said the officer before leaving.

"Seriously?" complained Nick. "You'd think the department would at least provide their very first fox cop with the necessary equipment for his job."

"You're preaching to the choir here, Nick," said Judy as she slipped on her gas mask, muffling her voice somewhat. "It's been a year for me here and I still need to have a few things sent back for fitting every once in a while."

"So what exactly am I supposed to do now if I can't 'examine the crime scene'" he said while tapping on his partner's face mask.

"You could try talking with the people working here," suggested Judy. "You've always been good with that sly mouth of yours."

Nick was left alone as his partner went to work.

"Hmmm…" the gears in Nick's head slowly started to turn. "That might not be such a bad idea. I bet the staff has a few of the aromaberry pastries made and stashed around someplace else."

He couldn't help having a wicked smile on his face.

In just a few short minutes, Nick had managed to "confiscate" some aromaberry tarts, cupcakes, two pies, and even… a prototype aromaberry donut from some of the kitchen staff. All the desserts were sealed in fancy glass containers that were served to customers.

"Are you quite sure about zis, monsieur Nick?" asked Chef Francois "I am, what you say, unsure? I doubt zat zee perpetrator was able to contaminate all the rest of these dessertz since zey were stored elsewhere."

The owner of Odeur Parfumée, a Chamois barely larger than Nick, stood a few feet away watching dessert after dessert taken away.

"I'm just here doing my job, sir," said Nick. "Gathering evidence so that we can catch this villain as soon as possible. We don't know if he may have gotten to some or even all of these too."

"We could always just open zem to check?" suggested Francois. "Ze containers are made to be airtight after all. It would not be hard to just close zem again."

Each of the desserts were held in specially made airtight glass containers that were custom made in varying sizes for different types. It was an expensive added cost to them, but there really was no shortage of demand even at such an increase of cost.

"Now, now, my dear Chef Francois." Nick had tagged and bagged the last of the food as evidence. "There is no telling if the suspect has been thorough in his crime, and we need all the evidence we can get to catch him. Why, you wouldn't want to serve any of these to anyone if even just a hint of that horrid smell was in these. What would your customers say?"

Chef Francois frowned as he did imagine what would happen if that were true.

"Your reputation aside," continued Nick. "Can a master pâtissier like yourself really live with knowing that the perfection of your dessert – No, your art – was ruined, desecrated, defiled and then smelled by the people?" Chef Francois thought seriously about it, his head slowly nodding at Nick's words. "Your work is perfection. If there is a chance of anything less than that, then the Chef Francois I know would never settle for it."

Chef Francois gasped, holding his hoof to his mouth. "mon Dieu, you are correct! How could I have been so blinded! Zat I would risk perfection for zi sake of saving money!" The Chamois shed a lone tear. "Come mes amies," he said towards his staff with a clap of his hooves. "All of it! All of it must leave zis place! Only perfection is allowed here!"

One by one, the chef's staff started revealing some of the pastries that they had hidden away from Nick. One of them had even hidden away a cake under his large white hat. They even helped Nick store them away in their car.

Nick couldn't help but lick his lips. He had thought it was a shame that there had been only a few aromaberry desserts that survived. But now there was a good amount of it to keep him well fed for a few days. And that was just eating nothing but these desserts. It's a good thing their police car had such a large trunk.

"What is going on here?"

And his daydreaming quickly popped at the approaching footsteps of his partner. He knew Judy would get in the way if she knew what he was up to. He had to think of something. After all, he could already taste the sweet slice of heaven that he was holding in his paws. The sweet smell of it could-

That's it!

"Nick?" Judy was eyeing him suspiciously from his back. "Care to explain to me what you've been doing?"

"Oh, well, I think I might've just found a crucial piece of evidence." Nick smiled as he slowly twisted open the airtight container in his paws, away from the bunny's keen eyes.

"Well?" Judy tapped her foot impatiently. "Care to share it with me?"

"Here." Nick turned around and held the dessert in front of his partner, just exactly underneath her cute little nose. "Take a good whiff."

The smell of the dessert seemed to have been much too strong after being sealed for a while, because in less than a second of confusion on Judy's face, she had suddenly fainted, her eyes closed but fluttering, and a pleasant smile on her face.

"You okay there, Whiskers?" said Nick looking down on his partner and sealing the dessert back in its container.

Judy just giggled with her feet thumping on air.

"I'll take that as a maybe, maybe not."

"I guess it iz her first time, no?" said Chef Francois. "Aromaberries are like wine; you only take small sniff of it."

"Yeah," agreed Nick with a satisfied smirk. "I forgot to tell her about that part."

"Hmm…" Chef Francois inspected the downed bunny. "The effects are rather strong wiz her. It might take her a while to come out of it."

That would make things harder on him since they still needed to interview people for a potential suspect. He'll have to do that by himself. But considering the price… it's well worth it, he would say.

"That is quite unfortunate." Nick picked up his partner on his shoulders. "Let me just get her back in our car with all the evidence, and I'll be right back with you guys quickly."

As he carried his partner away, he felt his conscience weigh heavily on what he had done. Fortunately, the aromaberry desserts were a lot heavier in his hands.

"Sorry, darling," said Nick to his unconscious partner. "It's just been too long since I've last had one of these babies. Hope you can understand."

To his surprise, his partner giggled something out. "Oooh, you are in soooooo much trouble."

He was pretty sure his partner was still in lala land and probably wasn't even thinking of him right now, but he still made a mental note to himself to bring out that aromaberry cheesecake between him and her when she woke up. Hopefully the cake would divert some of her attention away from him.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **It's probably better if you assume that this is a oneshot story kind of thing since I am still deciding whether to make this more of a TV episode thing or a fuller moviesh type length. I've got the general idea for both ways but not really sure if I can dedicate enough time to this. So it's safer to say for people to consider this as a oneshot.**


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